Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist One of the common stumbling blocks that can come up on the path of chronic pain recovery is confusion about whether or not a mind-body approach is right for you. In my opinion, this confusion often stems from a false binary that is unhelpful to our recovery: The […]

Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist A question I get often is: “What’s the purpose of feeling my feelings, when bringing them to the surface just makes me feel worse?” Great question! We feel our feelings for two reasons: First, to release the pressure that gets built up when we suppress emotions. Second, to […]

Stress flare-ups are a normal and inevitable part of life. And since stress can trigger symptoms like pain, symptom flare-ups are also a normal and inevitable part of life. The good news is: We can change the way that we respond to flare-ups. And if we do so consistently, it can have a very significant […]

Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist Healing is simply this: Meeting your fear with acknowledgment, empathy and love. Suffering happens when our protective mechanisms become chronic. Protective mechanisms like: Hyper-vigilance, anxiety, physical pain… These are all “danger” alarms that our nervous system sets into motion to protect us. But when our protective mechanisms become […]

Tips from a chronic pain recovery therapist A lot of folks think that if you just believe enough in… …that you’ll be rewarded for your belief by magically healing.⁠⁠But that’s not how it works, in my opinion.⁠⁠Healing is about believing in yourself — your capability and your worthiness.⁠⁠When you believe in yourself, you don’t see flare-ups as […]

When our emotional wounds aren’t acknowledged and tended to with care so that they can heal, our nervous system produces armor to protect us from further harm. Armor can look like… The armor is designed to protect us from harm. And in the short term, it can do just that. But armor doesn’t heal our […]

Symptom flare-ups often happen during periods of big expansion in your life: Stepping into a new leadership role, becoming a parent, gaining recognition for your art, starting a business, falling in love.⁠ But it’s not the expansion that causes the symptoms. It’s the tension that happens when fear rushes in to constrict the expansion. Because […]